Back in Time
by White Shade
Summary: Belle has gotten a hold of Rumpel's magic before, but back in the modern world, she finds his collection again. What if his magic was the key to understanding him?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Belle stood over the sink, washing the dishes. It'd been a few weeks since she'd found him like Jefferson asked. Mr. Gold had rewarded the hatter with a favor, and let's just say Jefferson got his daughter back and rather easily. It was a small price for Rumpelstiltskin to pay, especially since his Belle was returned to him alive and fairly well for the most part. The girl still found herself dusting his still rather large collection, but she didn't mind. Anything was better than being trapped in the psyche ward..

Mr. Gold was however, very protective, and he wouldn't let her outside, fear of Regina of course. She didn't know Belle was missing...yet. But when she found out, things were going to get dicy.

So for today, she wandered the large house, nothing to clean for once, and she found herself in his study. It was towards the back of the house, and for a reason. Magic was back, and Rumpel had to be around when even _she_ was cleaning that room. Still, he was not here, and Belle's curiosity got the best of her.

"His fault for not leaving the door locked," she told herself.

It seemed as though things had never changed. The room felt just as large since she was in the castle. His potions were all sprawled out on the shelves, each in their own place. Last night, Rumpel added a changing spell to them. Some were the same as ever, some were vastly altered. Belle didn't know what the difference of magic was, probably because she never had any...except true love for Rumpelstiltskin. However, she couldn't control that.

Not paying attention as usual, Belle knocked into the table's corner, where one vial had just been sitting on the edge. Her eyes widened as she dove to the ground, catching the potion in her hands. Sighing in relief, Belle looked a little closer at the object she held.

All it said was "Memories" on a label taped across it. She took the cork that had flown off when it hit the table and almost put it back on. Almost. For a moment, she bent her head forward to smell the potion, for sometimes some of them smelt very pleasant. This one, however, was the sour apple.

"Aw, Rumpel!"

She didn't even wanna know what he put in there. A cough escaped her lips, the stench was so awful. After setting the vial back on the table as though she had never touched it, and hastily opened a window, where the fresh dampness and musk of the after showers cured her of the smell.

Suddenly, she felt extremely tired. It was merely the afternoon, Belle didn't understand her need for sleep after only a few hours of being awake at all. For a moment, she thought the potion had given this to her, but she hadn't even taken a drink of it! How could it possibly affect her? She laid herself down on the couch, shutting her eyes within moments...

* * *

Everything felt like a dream, just some story she'd made up, yet it all felt so real. There was boy playing by a river. Being curious as to why and where she was, Belle tried calling out to him. But, it didn't seem like he could hear her. Even when she'd come right up next to him and tried talking, he acted as though she wasn't even around. _Perhaps, he's deaf?_ she thought to herself.

"Bae! Where are you boy?" a voice called, one that seemed all too familiar to her.

"Coming Papa!" the boy called back.

Well, he obviously wasn't deaf. The child raced back to village Belle saw in the distance, and she followed him, trying to keep up. When she saw the boy's father, she became startled, for the father was none other than Rumpelstiltskin!

"Come on, we have to sell," Rumpel urged the boy. "What were you doing?"

"I was just down by the river, waiting for you," Bae replied.

* * *

The next things she saw was a flash and then that same village again. Only now, it wasn't the same. People were in chaos as a horse rode right past her. Instinctively, she moved her body aside, thinking the knight would have hit her if she hadn't, which forced her to turn around. There they were again, the same two: Rumpel and his child.

As she looked beyond them, she could see a darker figure mounted on a horse, holding two other people down. When Belle watched the girl be taken by the men on the horses, she thought she knew what was going on. They were recruiting children for the ogre wars. A similar act was passed under her father's jurisdiction for the kingdom. Any child, boy or girl, had to serve at the age of 13.

The man in black galloped away after the knights. She came closer to Rumpelstiltskin and Bae, trying to speak up still, however in vein. No one could hear her! Were Rumpel and his child peasants? That sure was what it looked like to her.

"They'll come for me in the three days," Bae was sobbing and Rumpelstiltskin, that long stick in his left had, hugged the boy close.

"We'll find a way, Son. We'll find a way," he told the boy. Belle couldn't help but sense the sorrow. It was a strange thing, to be able to feel but not touch, and rather frustrating because all she wanted to do was hug Rumpelstiltskin and feel herself pressed against him.

* * *

Another flash, and it was darker outside. Rumpel had awakened his child, and they were going to leave. She followed them on their walk as they tried to run by the light of Rumpel's lantern. Well, Rumpel couldn't run, for his leg made him incapable of such things. Bae talked about how running away from this was wrong, but his father wouldn't have any of that kind of reasoning. Bae was all he had. Belle tried to remember that any action she took was useless, but she waved at them, yelling at them to watch out. She could see the guard was on their way and pursuing them.

Her eyes compelled her to watch the outcome of the encounter. The knights tormented Rumpel about how he ran from war and was teaching his son the very same. For once, Belle was seeing Rumpelstiltskin when he was weak. This was when he possessed no magic. Just as she was ready to cry and sink to the ground, she saw the knights didn't take the boy. There was a beggar whom they had helped earlier and he helped them return home.

Following, she heard the beggar telling of a fine tale about the Dark One, and Belle knew where this was going. This was how Rumpelstiltskin became the Dark One! Now she had to know what was going on. For now, she watched Bae sleeping soundly and she sat on the edge of the bed, feeling the sheets beneath her as some sort of surface. What a strange realm.

"All I got is my boy," she heard him say, but as she turned to listen further, there was another flash.

* * *

Belle was now up against a tree, her back leaning all her weight against it. Rumpel had just told Bae that he'd "be along shortly" and then told the boy to go home. Still compelled to know what would happen, she saw Bae walking home, clearly concerned for his father. As much as she wanted to follow him, Belle thought it best to stay where Rumpel was.

When he'd summoned the Dark One and stabbed him, Belle knew that he thought what he'd just done was the best thing for him and Bae. That all their problems would be over, until Rumpel began to realize something.

"You're that beggar!" he exclaimed and Belle ran to have a look. Sure enough, it was the same man who had told Rumpel about the Dark One. He _was_ the Dark One! Rumpel was tricked into this. Into a deal he "didn't fully understand" as the beggar told him.

She watched his skin change color into that glistening gold-dusted greenish color. Rumpelstiltskin begged the beggar to come back to life and tell him what he had to do to be the Dark One. But the beggar, the beggar was dead, long gone, and seemingly happier that Rumpel had killed him.

A tear escaped her eyes as he pulled the dagger and engraved was his name. He buried the beggar and tried to get used to his new form. The magic came in small tricks to him for now, but he would have to learn, and Belle already knew of the power he would become capable of.

However, he did not choose the magic, it was tricked upon him, and all in the name to save his son. Belle couldn't help but feel his pain, for she took it upon herself. Everyone else was terrified of him, and this was why. Rumpelstiltskin was just like anyone else.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

At dawn, he ran to his son, killing off each guard to prevent the boy from years of war and surrounding death. It was clear to Belle the boy didn't like magic very much, for he backed away. Even he was afraid of his father.

"Leave me alone!" Bae yelled as he ran into the house. The boy was simply confused, and Belle could see that plainly. He didn't know what to make of the situation, and he needed time to process everything.

* * *

There was another flash, but this time further the future, much further. Both of them wore entirely different clothing. It seemed as though their whole lives had begun to change. The boy was being led into the house after a little accident outside.

"You hurt people all the time," Bae told Rumpel, and she heard their conversation. The deal they made. Further on, she saw Bae talking to a girl his own age, and this time, instead of followed Rumpel, she followed his son. The girl talked about the blue fairy, and she didn't sound afraid of Rumpelstiltskin at all!

When Bae returned to Rumpelstiltskin, he figured out what happened to the maid. Belle admitted she didn't approve, though his reasoning for his actions sounded like something he would say to defend himself. However, Bae was blind in his own way, only seeing the fact his father had hurt someone else now.

* * *

Another flash, and this time Belle swore she was going to get a headache at this rate. This time, Bae was talking to the blue fairy and she gave him some sort of magic bean to teleport him and his father to a place without magic. He ran and got his father, persuading Rumpel to go with him.

"Where are we going boy? What is a place without magic?" he asked his son.

"A better one," Bae replied, holding up the bean. Belle wondered about what Rumpel was saying about the different magics not being able to mix well with each other. Still, Bae called him out, saying he promised. As the vortex swirled into the ground, Belle watched Rumpelstiltskin begin to show fear.

They slid, and at first, Belle could have sworn they were both gone, but Rumpel had stabbed his dagger into the ground. The boy screamed wildly at his father to come with him, but Rumpelstiltskin refused him.

"You coward! You'll break our deal!" Bae yelled.

"I have to," Rumpel said, pausing as he gripped Bae. He no longer tried to pull the boy up.

"Nooo!"

Rumpel let his son go...into the vortex, and then it disappeared. As soon as the chaos had ensued, sincere silence overcame the Dark One. It was then he realized what he had done, and instantly, he regretted it. Belle rushed to his side as he grieved for the loss of his son. That was how it happened...he'd chosen the power over his own son.

* * *

"BELLE!" a voice was screaming at her, and everything shot to black...

Her eyes shot open and she jolted up, seeing Rumpelstiltskin himself right next to her, taking her into his arms. She noticed her breathing was rather violent, heavy, and she was even shaking.

"Belle, sweetheart..." he said. "What's wrong? I shook you for five minutes, but you wouldn't wake up!" Silently, with a stare of horror on her face, Belle flung herself back into him, feeling the tears shooting down her face with rapid speed. She'd already been crying previously it seemed.

"Was it some sort of nightmare?" Rumpel asked. "Talk to me, Belle."

But she wouldn't, at least not now. Instead, she pulled herself away and stared into his eyes, wiping away the tears. She knew everything now. Everything she'd seen...it was real, and it happened a very long time ago.

"Where are you going?" he asked as she got up. Belle retrieved the bottle she'd almost broken today, setting it on the kitchen table, where Mr. Gold was waiting.

"What's in that?" she demanded to know, shaking a little in her hands. Rumpel stared at it for a moment, picking it up to examine the bottle.

"It's a dream inducer," he observed. "Gives you a bit of a more...realistic, perhaps in even true, look into what you were last thinking about before drifting to sleep."

"Does it work for people?" she asked. Gold blinked for a brief moment then looked back at he , a rather threatening stare in his eyes.

"Why were you in there alone? I told you...Belle!" Rumpel exclaimed, turning around to hold in the anger that had suddenly consumed him.

"The door was open, stuff was dirty...I almost dropped it!" she defended herself well enough. "I knocked into the table, but I caught _that_." She pointed at the bottle. "The cork fell off, but nothing spilt. So, I just sniffed it...and put it back."

He turned around to face her, his temper in better control.

"That's all it would take," he confirmed. "What were you thinking about?" Belle knew the dreams were nightmares, as did Rumpelstiltskin from the way he had to wake her.

The girl bit her lower lip, nervous to tell him. She even looked away fro a moment.

"Belle?" he asked, unsure of how to handle the situation. Backing up a little, she found herself afraid of him, though she wasn't sure why. He'd been the same since she'd met him. Now, he looked more like the spinner in her dreams. Either way, he was still Rumpelstiltskin, and she knew she could trust him.

"You," she replied, and then she hit the wall, feeling weak in her knees. So weak she knelt to the floor. "You dropped your own son. In a vortex! You let him go alone into a world without magic...he didn't like the power, did he?"

Rumpelstiltskin was trapped now, speechless at her words. She'd seen everything, everything from his past. The boy, the dagger, this wasn't good.

"Belle, if I can..." he began, but the look in her eyes as her head came up halted his words entirely.

"You were ticked into your magic," Belle went on. "It was forced upon you, but you couldn't let it go, you've had it for so long..."

"Did you see...everything? Was Regina in there?" he asked. However, she shook her head.

"Only the very beginning, so it seems," she said quietly. "Will I continue to have the dreams?"

"I'm not sure," Rumpel replied, not knowing what else to say. "You mustn't tell anyone _any_ of what you saw!"

"I won't," she whispered, staying on the floor, unsure of how to take this all in. That stuff really happened. Rumpelstiltskin never knew what he had until it was gone.

"You-you told me you lost him," Belle said. "I thought you meant he was dead." Gold's face had fallen, and she knew he was ashamed of the past.

"The curse allowed me to transport us to a place without magic..." he said, looking away.

"You're-You're still looking?!" she asked louder, standing up. There was hope fore him yet.

"Every day," he explained. "Not that I'll know what to say when I find him. Doesn't matter anyways."

"Why not?"

"Once we cross the boarder of Storybrooke, we forget our lives past. I'll have no memory of my son, you, or anything," he told her. "That's why I came home. I was going to tell you, but then I saw you thrashing on the couch."

"Oh," Belle said, looking up at him. "Perhaps he'll find _you_."

"Perhaps," Rumpel said. "But for now, you are certainly not leaving this town."

Belle shook her head, completely understanding. This was why she had to stay. She was all he had left right now, and someone had to give him a second chance. Bae wasn't here to do so, and Belle knew he would never make it alone. This was a differently world now. Charming nearly never needed a deal, but those around him seemed to. The last deal he'd made with Rumpel turned out to be rather good fortune, and he'd married Snow because of it.

Rumpelstiltskin had done a good thing for him, and Charming had returned the favor. No tricks, only a safety valve. Belle thought that if she made a few more friends in town, perhaps people would give her beast another chance. He seemed to always need them.


End file.
